Daitch, A. K. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2018

Activation of SEDS-PBP cell wall synthases by an essential regulator of bacterial division

Bacterial growth and division require insertion of new peptidoglycan (PG) into the existing cell wall by PG synthase enzymes. Emerging evidence suggests that many PG synthases require activation to function, however it is unclear how activation of division-specific PG synthases occurs. The FtsZ cytoskeleton has been implicated as a regulator of PG synthesis during division, but the mechanisms through which it acts are unknown. Here we show that FzlA, an essential regulator of constriction in Caulobacter crescentus, links FtsZ to PG synthesis to promote division. We find that hyperactive mutants of the PG synthases FtsW and FtsI specifically render fzlA, but not other division genes, non-essential. However, FzlA is still required to maintain proper constriction rate and efficiency in a hyperactive PG synthase background. Intriguingly, loss of fzlA in the presence of hyperactivated FtsWI causes cells to rotate about the division plane during constriction and sensitizes cells to cell wall-specific antibiotics. We demonstrate that FzlA-dependent signaling to division-specific PG synthesis is conserved in another -proteobacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens. These data establish that FzlA links FtsZ to cell wall remodeling, serving both to activate and spatially orient PG synthesis during division. Overall, our findings support the paradigm that activation of SEDS-PBP PG synthases is a broadly conserved requirement for bacterial morphogenesis.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2017

FtsEX-Mediated Regulation Of Inner Membrane Fusion And Cell Separation Reveals Morphogenetic Plasticity In Caulobacter crescentus

During its life cycle, Caulobacter crescentus undergoes a series of coordinated shape changes, including generation of a polar stalk and reshaping of the cell envelope to produce new daughter cells through the process of cytokinesis. The mechanisms by which these morphogenetic processes are coordinated in time and space remain largely unknown. Here we demonstrate that the conserved division complex FtsEX controls both the early and late stages of cytokinesis in C. crescentus, namely initiation of constriction and final cell separation. {Delta}ftsE cells display a striking phenotype: cells are chained, with skinny connections between cell bodies resulting from defects in inner membrane fusion and cell separation. Surprisingly, the thin connections in {Delta}ftsE cells share morphological and molecular features with C. crescentus stalks. Our data uncover unanticipated morphogenetic plasticity in C. crescentus, with loss of FtsE causing a stalk-like program to take over at failed division sites and yield novel cell morphology.\n\nAuthor SummaryBacterial cell shape is genetically hardwired and is critical for fitness and, in certain cases, pathogenesis. In most bacteria, a semi-rigid structure called the cell wall surrounds the inner membrane, offering protection against cell lysis while simultaneously maintaining cell shape. A highly dynamic macromolecular structure, the cell wall undergoes extensive remodeling as bacterial cells grow and divide. We demonstrate that a broadly conserved cell division complex, FtsEX, relays signals from the cytoplasm to the cell wall to regulate key developmental shape changes in the -proteobacterium Caulobacter crescentus. Consistent with studies in diverse bacteria, we observe strong synthetic interactions between ftsE and cell wall hydrolytic factors, suggesting that regulation of cell wall remodeling is a conserved function of FtsEX. Loss of FtsE causes morphological defects associated with both the early and late stages of division. Intriguingly, without FtsE, cells frequently fail to separate and instead elaborate a thin, tubular structure between cell bodies, a growth mode observed in other -proteobacteria. Overall, our results highlight the plasticity of bacterial cell shape and demonstrate how altering the activity of one morphogenetic program can produce diverse morphologies resembling those of other bacteria in nature.

microbiology↗